


Soul Sinuosity

by MageKing17



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Danzo Gets Arrested, Fix-It of Sorts, Further Reincarnation (After Canon Reincarnation), Gen, Namikaze Minato Lives, No Uchiha Massacre, Uzumaki Kushina Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21714544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageKing17/pseuds/MageKing17
Summary: It wasn't the first time she was reborn as a twin, but she certainly didn't expect to grow up alongsideherself.
Relationships: (sort of) - Relationship, Nara Shikako & Nara Shikako, Nara Shikako & Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikako & Yamanaka Inoichi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 338
Collections: Dreaming of Sunshine Exchange 2019 B, Heliocentrism — a Dreaming of Sunshine recursive collection





	Soul Sinuosity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JohnBurtonLee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnBurtonLee/gifts).



"Finally going to bed?"

Inoko Yamanaka probably would've dramatically gasped in shock and leapt a foot in the air, had she not been completely aware of her sister's location at all times and simply hadn't avoided this path to get to her bed because the confrontation seemed inevitable. "You didn't have to wait up for me, Ino."

Ino snorted. "Of course I did; otherwise you would've just kept ignoring me."

Inoko flinched; that was probably true. "I didn't mean to—"

"You never _mean_ to, you just _do_." Ino's tone was calm, but the words felt like daggers to her sister's heart. "Why do you and Dad seem to think that I can't keep a secret?"

"It has nothing to do with your capabilities—" Inoko tried, but Ino cut her off.

"If it had nothing to do with my capabilities, you would've had me involved from the start!"

Inoko sighed. "That would've been literally impossible."

Ino gave her sister a disbelieving look, complete with a skeptical raised eyebrow.

Inoko shrugged. "Most newborn babies aren't capable of fully-formed thoughts, and as you well know, mindwalking is exceedingly dangerous before the age of 2."

Ino blinked. "So why did Dad bring you in?"

"He didn't," Inoko said with a sigh, as she decided that she should probably take Shikako's advice and tell Ino everything. "I brought him in."

There seemed to be only one possible response to that statement. " _What._ "

* * *

She probably would've tried to keep it a secret, but it turns out that a clan of literal mindreaders aren't big on privacy when they notice a newborn with what seems to be perfect chakra control. She couldn't even blame them—her first thought would've been some sort of bizarre infiltration attempt (possibly with Orochimaru behind it). Inoichi had just gaped in shock for a solid ten minutes, breaking off the moment he'd realized he was making contact with an _adult Nara mind_ , and she couldn't even begin to imagine what his thought process was. Finally, she managed to get his attention with a chakra pulse and he dove back into her mind so they could talk.

It took a long time for her to get the basics of the situation across (although the fact that her mental image of herself hadn't had time to change from the fully-grown Shikako Nara, in uniform, seemed to help), leaving out any mention of this not being her first reincarnation. Inoichi confirmed that there was, in fact, a Shikako Nara in this world, born with her twin brother on her old birthday, the day before her new birthday.

"At least I won't have difficulty remembering my birthday," she joked.

Inoichi hadn't laughed; he'd barely even reacted, still looking floored by the fact that one of his daughters was actually his niece, all grown up. Shikako—no, wait, that wasn't her name anymore; still, she couldn't just drop it altogether— _Inoko_ gave his mental representation a pat on the shoulder.

"I know this is a lot to take in; you should talk with your— with Mom," she said, once more trying to get used to the idea of thinking of another woman as her mother.

"What about—?" he started, but she shook her head.

"It can wait until tomorrow; talk to your wife."

* * *

Nobody was quite sure what to make of the Yondaime's sudden arrest of Elder Shimura, or new father Inoichi Yamanaka seeming to stumble through the village with a haunted look on his face for days afterwards, clutching his newborn daughters tightly at all hours, especially during official meetings.

(Someone joked that he needed to consult the twins before making policy decisions; while they were surprisingly close, they probably wouldn't have laughed if they'd known that part of the reason he wouldn't let his daughters go was so that he could be sure they wouldn't get kidnapped the moment his back was turned.)

Perhaps nobody was as surprised as fellow new father Shikaku Nara, who received an unexpected request for a meeting to discuss sensitive information. Expecting Inoichi to want to talk to him alone, he was extremely surprised when he brought his daughter—and only _one_ of them—and _the Yondaime_ to the meeting.

Shikaku was so surprised that he leapt to attention and probably would've saluted if Minato hadn't immediately said, "For fuck's sake, Shikaku, relax; it's weird to see you trying to be deferential."

"It's weird to see you being Hokage," Shikaku replied automatically, but relaxed anyway; only somewhat, though, because he was still wigged out by the baby in the room. "Speaking of weird...?"

"Shikaku," Inoichi said, holding up his daughter, "I'd like to introduce you to... Shikako Nara."

Shikaku blinked. "No she's not," he said before his brain even fully engaged, because he was well aware of what his daughter looked like.

"Not anymore," Inoichi agreed, "but she _used_ to be."

There was only one possible response to that statement. " _What._ "

* * *

"So... Shikako Nara was diagnosed with Chakra Hypersensitivity."

She was old enough, now, to have actual conversations, but they still held their chats mentally both out of habit and for the sake of security. Inoichi's mental representation looked faintly disbelieving; probably unable to believe anyone could become a Jounin with her level of chakra control with such a condition.

"Yes and no," Inoko said, pulling them into a memory from her previous childhood, of choking on the chakra in the air. "By the strictest definition, no, because manipulating chakra doesn't cause me pain. However, I've definitely always been hyper-aware of chakra, as in having an abnormal level of sensitivity to it. And it's not like it _never_ causes me pain; sparring against Jyuuken can be excruciating."

Inoichi winced. "And if I were to ask you whether or not I should discourage Shikako from joining the academy, you'd say—?"

Inoko sighed as she realized that she only really had one option. "Let me talk to her."

* * *

"We need to talk."

Shikako wasn't quite sure what to make of this sudden announcement from one of her virtual sisters (she'd been slightly surprised to learn that she wasn't the only unexpected twin, but decided that it made sense; if one thing can be different, so can another). Inoko Yamanaka had always felt slightly... "off" to Shikako's senses. Too controlled for a child; so unlike her twin sister.

(The fact that she's only able to reach this conclusion because of her chakra sensing—and that Inoko otherwise perfectly mimics a child, just like Shikako—eludes her.)

"Sure," she finally allows, and follows the other girl away from the rest of their families.

It came as a slight surprise when Inoko abruptly stopped and announced, "You shouldn't go to the Academy."

Shikako blinked in confusion. "Why not?"

"I know you want to stay with Shikamaru, and I know just manipulating chakra doesn't actually cause you pain," Inoko said, and the freezing cold of fear shivered down Shikako's back— _how does she know that?_ "but you don't need to take the entire world onto your shoulders."

Shikako's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. "Who are you?"

"In my previous life, I was Shikako Nara," she said, and Shikako's brain completely stalled at that. "I've already gone through that; you don't have to push yourself to protect everyone all by yourself."

"That's why Naruto's family is still alive," Shikako breathed in sudden realization. The irony of her earlier thought finally struck her: she really _was_ the only unexpected twin.

"I can take care of everything," Inoko said, already turning to head back. "Shikamaru needs his sister."

Shikako spoke up before she could walk too far. "What about Ino?"

Inoko flinched. "What about her?"

"She needs her sister, too," Shikako pressed.

"She'd be better off without me," Inoko disagreed, staring at the ground.

"You can't know that."

Inoko snorted. "I _really_ can."

"Oh?" Shikako said, archly. "So in your previous life, Ino hated her sister, did she?"

Inoko didn't respond, but Shikako could tell she'd aimed true.

"You don't have to martyr yourself, either," she insisted.

Inoko finally looked back at her and smirked softly. "I thought _I_ was supposed to be the mind-reader here."

* * *

Ino stared at her sister in shock. "So you used to be—"

"Yup."

"—and I... I didn't have a sister...?" Ino seemed like she was about to start crying.

"Of course you did," Inoko said, rushing forward to give her a hug. "You were always my sister, Ino. Even when it wasn't literal, you were still my sister."

Ino sniffed loudly, her face buried in Inoko's neck. "But you... you weren't going to tell me anything if your—what, past life? Hadn't told you to?"

Inoko sighed, hugging her sister tighter. "...Probably not. I— There are things that— I had convinced myself that you would be better off if you were as uninvolved with me as possible."

"Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Ino said, between sniffles. Then she lightly punched her sister in the shoulder, for good measure. "Never do that again."

"I'll try," Inoko replied, a fragile smile fluttering across her face. "You might have to remind me, every now and then."

"It's a deal," Ino mumbled into her sister's hair, her arms squeezing tightly.

* * *

"Are you excited about team assignments?" Ino gushed.

"Nope," her sister replied dryly. "Couldn't care less."

"You're terrible," Ino said, laughing.

"Just so long as my Jounin-sensei isn't Itachi," Sasuke said with an exaggerated shudder. "He'd never let me get away with anything."

"They're giving him a team already?" Shikako asked, leaning over her brother, who seemed resigned to being furniture.

"What do you mean, 'already'?" Sasuke asked, indignant on behalf of his brother. "He's been a Jounin for years."

"He'd still have to be the youngest potential teacher in the pool..." Shikako started, and Inoko started tuning out the argument.

Things certainly hadn't gone how she'd expected them to (case in point: the brand-new forehead protector around Shikako's arm), but she couldn't quite bring herself to regret it, when she saw the way her friends smiled without the shadows of so many losses hanging over them all. In fact, she'd be hard-pressed to think of one thing she could possibly change.

"Team Seven:" came the sudden announcement, and Inoko started at the realization that she'd been out of it for that long. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Inoko Yamanaka."

Inoko abruptly dropped her head onto her desk with a groan; she'd intentionally kept her grades solidly average this time!

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not," Sasuke said with a fake pout.

"Your Jounin instructor will be Shisui Uchiha," Iruka concluded.

Sasuke gaped. Naruto snorted and grabbed him in a chokehold ("'Just so long as it isn't Itachi'? You jinxed it, 'ttebayo!").

Inoko sighed loudly. "Here we go..."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this disjointed collection of scenes, because trying to make an overarching plot didn't seem to work.


End file.
